I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dental instruments used by dentists and dental hygienists for treatment of teeth and, more particularly, to a dental curette or scaler having a sharpened working end.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Present day dental instruments including dental curettes typically comprise of a shaft member having a tapered portion extending to a sharpened working end. A typical dental curette known in the art, as shown in FIG. 1, is shown to illustrate the tapered portion proximate the sharpened working end. Dental instruments, such as the instrument shown in FIG. 1, are typically held by the hand with the tip of the middle finger pressed upon the tapered portion to apply pressure when maneuvering the instrument against a patient's teeth. When the user's middle finger is pressed upon this tapered portion, a substantially large amount of pressure is exerted on a relatively small surface area of the middle finger due to the small contact area with the tapered portion of the instrument. Extended periods of use of the instrument with the substantially large pressure exerted on the small surface area of the middle finger can result in a variety of tissue, muscle and nerve damage. This concentrated pressure can also aggravate and contribute to accumulative trauma such as tendonitis, tenosynovitis and/or cause carpal tunnel syndrome.